When we were trying to choose a name for our new company we found that it is quite difficult to find a novel and interesting name that is not already taken. When we looked through the names that were already taken, we found that nautical names and terms seemed especially appealing because they were not overly specific but still had implications of "going places" and "doing useful things".
In our search we found an attractive picture of a sailing vessel that traveled on the Nile called the Gyassa (or alternately Gaiassa). The boat has lateen sails and is used mostly for cargo. We believe that it sends the right message for our company. We want to create software that is useful and depended on for daily work activities.